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Abstract: Introduction to the special section – Actors of EU law – Activities of EU actors – Role definition in EU constitutional law – Constitutional theory – Separation of powers –Relationship between public authorities and individuals – Institutional actors – Private actors – Lobbyists – Law and practice – Legal doctrine – Research methods in EU law – Importance of theoretical frameworks in defining the parameters of legal research.
Abstract: This introductory article conceptualizes the notion of third country influence on European Union (EU) law and policy and proposes an analytical framework theorizing the venues and means through which third countries may gain such impact, under what conditions and with which implications for the EU's legal and political order. The article first introduces the focus on outside‐in influence in the context of European studies, generally, and EU privileged third country relations, specifically. Thereafter, an analytical framework is developed for mapping and explaining the outside‐in dynamics on EU law and policy‐making differentiating between diplomatic, governance and discursive venues; coercive versus technocratic and normative mechanisms of influence; and the legal constraints and political implications of these processes. Turning to the potential determinants of these occurrences, the article then proposes a set of hypotheses for conditions under which third countries can influence EU law and policies, before summarizing the individual contributions to this Special Issue.
Abstract: The constitutional character of the Union legal order based on the rule of law requires that secondary sources of Union law are not infringing the primary sources, including the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR). The latter’s importance as a valid instrument to be invoked against measures that are excessive in their interference with the fundamental rights has recently been reinforced by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the judgments in cases such as C-694/20, Orde van Vlaamse Balies and Others, and joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, Luxembourg Business Registers and Sovim. The CJEU invalidated provisions of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC6) and 5AMLD which reminded that this is the case even when rules are motivated by important collective interests. These include the combat against tax evasion and tax fraud and enhancing broadly understood transparency and are agreed upon and are ‘validated’ by a Union’s legislature. The lessons to be learned are not to be underestimated. Understanding where the limits lie is decisive for valid law making and law enforcement as well as for effectively invoking the rights of individuals and businesses.
Abstract: The European Union (EU) has over time developed close relations, typically taking the form of acquis ‐based association agreements, with the countries in its Western and Eastern neighbourhood. This article examines when, where and how these non‐Member States can influence the terms of their association with the EU's law and policies via institutional venues. It expands on the literature of external Europeanization and governance, which has mainly focused on the downloading of EU rules by these countries. Yet, the associated neighbours have the opportunity to exert influence at different stages of the law or policy‐making process: first, before the downloading of relevant new rules by uploading or cross‐loading, that is, by attempting to initiate or shape these rules during the agenda‐setting and the formulation phases; and second, during or after the downloading by tweaking or rebuffing relevant new rules in the adoption and implementation phases. These mechanisms of influence at different points in time and in different bodies are illustrated by examples from the countries of the European Free Trade Association, of the Eastern Partnership and in the EU's customs union. The findings indicate that more uploading opportunities can generally be expected, the more downloading is required, and the better the associated countries' access to EU bodies in the early stage of the formulation of new rules. Weak uploading opportunities make joint bodies more important for tweaking and rebuffing. The proposed conceptual framework contributes to the study of external differentiated integration and opens new research avenues.
Abstract: The European Parliament’s 2022 Resolution on Global Threats to Abortion Rights promotes a wide-ranging and women-focused approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights, which continue to be in jeopardy globally, and have worsened following the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. The Resolution’s most striking aspect is a call for the right to abortion to be included in the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The legal effects of such an inclusion would be limited, although potentially improving cross-border access to abortion. Union law remains a legally constrained space for pursuing abortion rights.
Abstract: This article analyses transnational company agreements (TCAs) as a new form of social dialogue in multinational companies and examines why a legal framework for TCAs has not yet been introduced at European level. It argues that a reopening of the discussion on the introduction of such a legal framework should be promoted in order to strengthen the social dialogue in multinational companies and raise social standards in Europe Transnational Company Agreements, Social Dialogue, Multinational Companies, Legal Basis, Austrian Collective Bargaining System.
Abstract: This study analyses the European Commission's strategies to counteract Member States' non‐compliance with EU law between 1989 and 2018. Based on a theoretical framework that distinguishes between a normative and a regulative approach in the Commission's strategies, the study conducts a semi‐automatic content analysis of all annual reports on monitoring the application of EU law and further supports this analysis with other EU sources. The results demonstrate that the Commission shifted from a normative approach based on management tools in the late 1980s and early 1990s to a more regulative approach with enhanced enforcement four decades later. Moreover, the Commission's role as driver for European integration has changed. In times of crisis and increased domestic contestation, the Commission has become a more authoritarian prosecutor of European policies.
Abstract: The European Union (EU), as a regulatory authority, has a long history of evidence-based policymaking, dating back to 2002. With its 2015 Better Regulation Agenda, the European Commission stressed the importance of evidence-based legislation as a means to ensure that a policy is developed on the basis of a “systematical analysis of the potential economic, social and environmental impacts of proposed policies”. Evidence-based legislation should thereby help policymakers to draft ‘high-quality’ legislation that is effective and efficient. The Commission has reiterated its commitment to ‘evidence-based lawmaking’ in its 2021 Communication on Better Regulation (...).
Abstract: Among the objectives of the European Union (EU) there is the protection and improvement of European citizens’ health. To this end, several instruments can be enacted at EU level, both of binding legal nature- such as regulations, - and not binding -. EU regulations are binding legislative acts that must be applied across all the EU member states (MS). In the context of the Ordinary Legislative Procedure, proposals are initiated by the European Commission and their development involves two more actors, namely the European Parliament, representing EU citizens, and the Council of the EU, representing EU governments. These act as co-legislators, are requested to review the proposal, and have the right to propose amendments to reach a final agreement on a joint text, often through tripartite meetings on legislative proposals between representatives of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission; these are referred to as ‘Trilogue’ meetings. The EU regulation on Health Technology Assessment (HTAR) was adopted in January 2022, and will become legally binding in January 2025. It provides a first input for the reorganisation of the pharmaceutical market across all EU strategy (Pharmaceutical Strategy). The Pharmaceutical Strategy aims to future proof regulatory frameworks; support industry in promoting research; and foster EU citizens’ access to safe, effective, and high-quality medicines that are used in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. HTA allows for evidence-informed policy- and decision-making, disentangling the comparative value of health technologies and permits for informed negotiation in terms of pricing, reimbursement and, of course, in terms of establishing priorities for procurement decisions (...).
Abstract: This article aims to present the particularities of the administrative practices as an infringement of the law of the European Union. Even if the failure to the transpose a directive within the deadline is the most common kind of infringement, administrative practices contrary to the law of European Union can also lead to an action for a declaration for failure to fulfil obligations. First of all, we will analyse the relationship between the law of the European Union and the national Law, in order to highlight the principle of primacy of the law of the European Union. Secondly, we will refer to the action for a declaration for failure to fulfil obligations, by generally presenting the principle types of infringement of the law of the European Union. Last but not least, we will analyse the features of the administrative practices as an infringement of the law of the European Union, by focusing on the main case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Abstract: Brexit, and the litigation brought successfully by Gina Miller against the Brexit strategies of the Conservative government and Boris Johnson, caused a burning Conservative preoccupation to settle the score against ‘Europhile judges’, judicial review and to remove the legacy of ‘foreign’ European law in UK domestic law. This preoccupation has seen a flurry of legislative activity including the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022, the bills to remove retained EU law (REUL) from the UK statute book, to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol and to repeal the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. This article examines these developments.
Abstract: Several recent rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Romanian Constitutional Court and the High Court of Cassation and Justice raise the issue of the supremacy/primacy of European Union law over national law, especially with regard to criminal or constitutional provisions. If the European court affirms the primacy of Union law over any national rules, including those of constitutional origin, under certain conditions, the Romanian constitutional court nuances this primacy, recognizing it only partially and only in terms of domestic law and not in respect to constitutional provisions. On the other hand, the supreme court, in two recent decisions, applied the European provisions, leaving unapplied the decisions of the Romanian Constitutional Court, generating the impression of an apparent conflict between European law and national law. In the following we will analyse the appearance or reality of this conflict, but also possible solutions.
Abstract: This contribution seeks to explore the legal interaction between loyalty and solidarity at EU level, also when it comes to crisis situations. Section 1 identifies the major features of the principle of loyalty – also known today as principle of sincere cooperation – and briefly illustrates the role that the principle plays in the EU legal order. After having stressed the multifaceted nature of the concept of solidarity in the EU legal order, Section 2 discusses the possible interactions this concept may have with loyalty in securing the constitutional framework of the Union. Section 3 traces the ways in which loyalty and solidarity may interact in crisis scenarios. The major findings of the analysis are summarized in Section 5.
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